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Before and after: woodcut 1950
Cleaning a big panoramic wood cut print by Han Krug
This was a fun job but at times also a challenging task. I peeled the paper inch by inch from the board on which it was glued. The wet paper was brittle and had to be handled with the necessary care. I used denatured water to relax the paper as fast as possible, using a sharp scalpel knife to remove the backboard. As expected, some pieces came off easily and some pieces were nerve wracking to remove.
After this the print was washed and pressed. This print had some thicker layers of ink, almost latex like, that had a different elasticity then the paper. This resulted in waving so I had to repeat the wetting and pressing of the paper until the final result was achieved. A new fresh looking wooden frame was used to protect the cheerful piece as well as a new piece of glass and a protective matte
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Before and after: cleaning a lithograph
cleaning of a print
This is a lithographic print by B Bokhorst. It was pressed on woodpulp rich, modern paper. This paper tends to yellow fairly quickly. With yellowing and high acidity comes brittleness of the paper so it’s best to clean this paper to be able to preserve it. Before the wash I sprayed the plate with some denatured water and 3 percent bioethanol. The ethanol penetrates the paper much faster than water which prevents the tearing of the paper fibers on a microscopic level
I washed the print in a solution of denatured water and some calcium hydroxide. and after drying and pressing the plate I mended some folds with Kozo paper and purified wheat starch glue. I filled in small damages and missing color with pencils. Since the litho closely resembles a pencil drawing it seemed like the right choice.